The name Atari is much more synonymous with retro gaming than with the modern era, but it's made something of a comeback in recent years. While the ownership of the name has been shuffled around over the years, modern Atari has clawed a foothold in the market by leaning on the history of the brand.
Along with re-releases of classic games, that's resulted in some throwback consoles that took the momentum Nintendo established with the NES Classic and ran with it. The most ambitious of these is the Atari VCS, which draws design inspiration from the classic Atari 2600 but offers a very different suite of features. Unfortunately, that platform will be taking a major hit in the near future.
This week, Atari announced the impending end of the VCS software store, bringing an end to the availability of digital games on the platform. The shutdown is planned for February 1, 2027, giving owners roughly three months to browse the store and make any final purchases they desire.
Once downloaded, Atari VCS games will remain accessible following the store shutdown, but it will no longer be possible to acquire new titles. Atari closes its announcement of the shutdown by...
